The 2030 Agenda is a universal, collective responsibility that covers all levels: global, national and territorial. The increased complexity and interconnectedness of the world, combined with the growing perception of unfair globalisation and the erosion of trust in the multilateral system, have considerably expanded the range of global policy challenges which cannot be solved by any one country alone. This calls for a stronger and more coherent multilateral system that helps to reconcile and deliver the economic, social and environmental transformations needed to achieve the SDGs.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 17.14 calls on all countries to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) as a key means of implementation. Governments and stakeholders recognise the relevance of PCSD for identifying, understanding and managing interactions among highly interconnected SDGs, and for addressing the potential transboundary and intergenerational policy effects of domestic and international action. They are also increasingly recognising the need to break out of institutional and policy silos to realise the benefits of synergistic actions and to effectively address unavoidable trade-offs across the SDGs. Most importantly, they recognise the need for coherent approaches to ensure that “no one is left behind”, the underlying principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This chapter applies a policy coherence lens to identify critical interlinkages between the SDGs to be reviewed by the HLPF in 2018: Goal 6 on water, 7 on energy, 11 on cities, 12 on sustainable consumption and production, and 15 on biodiversity. It draws on OECD work to explore each of the five goals in terms of: i) major challenges; ii) fundamental synergies and trade-offs between Goals that need to be managed to ensure a coherent and effective implementation; and iii) potential policy and governance responses. The chapter is intended to provide analytical input and inform the thematic review at the UN HLPF. This work is part of the OECD Action Plan on the Sustainable Development Goals which calls on the OECD to contribute to policy analysis, guidance and tools to support countries’ efforts to implement the SDGs.

Enhancing policy coherence is one of the most difficult challenges to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to most Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) presented by UN members to the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF).This chapter looks at plans and initial steps towards adapting institutional frameworks for SDG implementation taken by the 20 OECD countries that have presented VNRs to the HLPF so far: Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. It applies eight key elements of the Framework for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) as a lens to identify good institutional practices for PCSD as required in SDG Target 17.14. The analysis benefits from several examples from the VNRs that serve to illustrate national variations in the approaches and mechanisms used for implementation. This chapter also includes two contributions by two member institutions of the Partnership for Enhancing Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development which have developed analytical tools for coherent implementation of the SDGs. This chapter is complemented by country profiles presented in Chapter 3.

This chapter presents country profiles from 19 countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) describing practices and institutional mechanisms that are relevant for enhancing policy coherence for sustainable development. It draws on country responses to a survey sent to all members of the informal network of national focal points for policy coherence (including all OECD member countries), organised with questions corresponding to the eight building blocks identified in Chapter 2 and considered central to coherent policy making. The chapter highlights country practices and mechanisms with a view to sharing experiences and improving mutual understanding in efforts to achieve more coherent SDG implementation. It concludes with three contributions by member institutions of the Partnership for Enhancing Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development presenting brief profiles of Nepal and Pakistan at the national level and a case study on vertical policy coherence in Brazil.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 17.14 calls on all countries to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD). The purpose of this chapter is to support government efforts to monitor this target at the national level, as well as to contribute to the development of the global methodology for indicator 17.14.1. It applies the Framework for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development to the five thematic SDGs under review by the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2018. Specifically, the framework advises countries to consider three elements of the policy making process: institutional mechanisms; policy interactions; and policy effects on other countries and future generations. It also encourages them to identify different sets of indicators depending on national context, priorities and long-term policy objectives. The chapter concludes with three contributions by member institutions of the Partnership for Enhancing Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development that have developed or are using analytical tools for coherent implementation of the SDGs.

National governments are ultimately accountable to their citizens for delivering on their international commitments. Effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda, however, requires collective action and policy coherence at multiple levels. The SDGs, and SDG 17.14 on PCSD in particular, recognise the importance of a balanced approach between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. They also call for an effective interface between the national and international dimensions of implementation, consistency among the different international agreements globally, and alignment of the different sources of finance where fragmentation can undermine effectiveness. This chapter comprises external contributions, including from six member institutions of the PCSD Partnership, which look at these broader dimensions of PCSD.